Talk:Parseltongue
Snake Hearing How can you talk to a snake? It's a known fact that all Snakes are deaft. :This is a fantasy world, dear. Anything can happen. Hermione1980 20:21, 19 February 2006 (UTC) ::Yeah. And anyway, the big "problem" with Parseltongue isn't so much the hearing thing as the fact that snakes being able to hold conversations would make them much more intelligent than muggles give them credit for… I generally take it Potterverse snakes are akin to Diricawls/Dodo Birds — magical creatures whom muggles know quite well but don't know the magical abilities of. Scrooge MacDuck (talk) 22:08, January 15, 2018 (UTC) Harry Losing the Ability What is the reference for Harry losing the ability to speak Parseltongue? This is the one question I have about this series and have not found the answer anywhere else. -Min Ruminari 04:47, 23 March 2008 (UTC) :JK Rowling revealed it in one of her interviews in the months following the publication of the Deathly Hallows. - [[User:Cavalier One|'Cavalier One']](''Wizarding Wireless Network'') 13:08, 23 March 2008 (UTC) List Could somebody make a list of words known and translated from the films? Such as Heshasa? Meaning open? --Finnigan Gorge 22:24, 18 April 2009 (UTC)--Finnigan Gorge 22:24, 18 April 2009 (UTC) I found this website: http://wiki.frath.net/Parseltongue-inspired however, I don't know how much of it is canon, so I haven't added any information to the parseltongue page until I'm more sure about where they got their information from, some of it seems rather conjectural. --BachLynn23 17:32, July 27, 2010 (UTC) Heading Change? I think someone changed the first heading. I do not recall it being "Harry potter - the years when he could speak Parseltounge." I don't remember what it was, or what it should be renamed, but could someone please fix this? There are so many mistakes it's inbearable to look at. AlastorMoody 19:09, August 4, 2011 (UTC) Dumbledore The article states that Dumbledore recognised but did not speak Parseltounge. According to this however http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2007/0730-bloomsbury-chat.html he understood it as well: "Delailah: How does dumbledore understand parseltongue? J.K. Rowling: Dumbledore understood Mermish, Gobbledegook and Parseltongue. The man was brilliant." He may not have spoken it, but according to rowling herself, he more than merely recognised it (which, really, anyone was able to anyway. remember the dueling club in second year? the whole damn school recognised parseltounge) -- 21:49, June 17, 2013 (UTC) :Thanks, I updated the information to indicate clearly that Dumbledore was able to understand Parseltongue. ProfessorTofty (talk) 00:52, June 18, 2013 (UTC) :It still says he was unable to speak it, though we dont know that. Rowling has, to my knowledge, never stated that he didn't speak parseltounge, so either way, it's just speculation. It should say "but may have been unable to speak it" or something like that -- 11:01, June 18, 2013 (UTC) :: I'm bumping this, because the Albus Dumbledore page clearly states he could understand it and quote Parseltongue sentences from Bob Ogden's memories — whereas there is nothing to suggest Dumbledore "could understand Parseltongue but not speak it", often though that tidbit may get repeated on fansites. Scrooge MacDuck (talk) 22:08, January 15, 2018 (UTC) Splitting the page I don't know if people will agree with me, but I feel as though the language itself (which can be learned, as demonstrated by Albus Dumbledore) of Parseltongue, and the magical trait of Parsel''mouths'', are two different things, the former being a language and the latter a magical ability that gave Parselmouths innate knowledge of the former. This would be in keeping with things like Invisibility, as the characteristic itself, being a separate page from means to achieve it (Disillusionment Charm or Invisibility cloak). Just dropping my two cents here.Scrooge MacDuck (talk) 22:08, January 15, 2018 (UTC) Etymology Why "parsel"? I know the author uses a lot of French in Harry Potter books, so does it have a link with the French word "parcelle" meaning a bit, a piece, a fragment. —''Unsigned'' : No, nothing to do with "parcelle" — nor, indeed, "Parcel" in English. Rather, "a parselmouth" is an old British slang term for someone who speaks with a lisp. --Scrooge MacDuck (talk) 14:42, September 10, 2019 (UTC)